Crimea’s parliament Monday moved to declare independence after residents in the semi-autonomous region there overwhelmingly backed a referendum to break away from Ukraine and rejoin Russia, news agencies in Russia reported.

Crimea’s election committee said that 97% of voters backed a union between the largely ethnic-Russian peninsula and the huge neighboring country.

Crimean Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov said on Twitter that the region would move to Russian time starting March 30.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has yet to is expected to speak before both houses of the Russian parliament Tuesday in a special address on Crimea.

to declare (v) to say something officially or publicly
overwhelmingly (adv) very great or very strong
committee (n) a group of people who are chosen, usually by a larger group, to make decisions or to deal with a particular subject
to be expected (v) to be likely to happen
address (n) a formal speech that is made in front of an audience